Dear John, Today hurts—even more because of how high the stakes were. We could have been celebrating the win of a progressive Black man set to tackle Mitch McConnell in a head-to-head fight in Kentucky, and a win against a pro-fracking Democrat in Colorado. Instead, our champions were defeated in these two states. It’s okay to take a moment to grieve these losses. But I can’t help but feel energized by how close we were, and I am so, so, so proud of you — of us — for trying. For taking on the establishment when no one else was there. For standing with candidates that so many others wrote off, and putting up one hell of a fight. We are young, new, and learning every day. For a lot of us, 2020 has been our first experience with political organizing. Many of us aren’t even old enough to vote yet. We didn’t have anywhere near the money our opponents had to pour into these races. And yet, look what we accomplished. We almost won. I have to imagine our opponents are congratulating themselves with a little sweat on their brows. These races were so very close—and you can bet they’re nervous about next time. When no one believed in Charles and Andrew, our movement was there. We showed everyone that these races were within reach, that we can take on the Democratic establishment, even with all their money and out-of-state endorsements. We have built—are still building—so much power. And that makes the establishment afraid. Our people power is a type of organizing that doesn’t go away when the election ends. It lingers in the streets, wakes them up at their houses in the middle of the night, and will show up in force at the polls next time. I’m proud to be on the Sunrise side, with you. Evan Weber, Political Director P.S. - Help us keep fighting by signing up for a phone bank shift to uplift Mike Siegel in Texas and Arati Kreibich in New Jersey. We’re going to need all the volunteers we can gather to have a shot at winning these races. |